Norwegian Ambassador impressed by NASFAM products
NASFM was founded in 1976 and formally registered in 1998 as an organisation to help smallholder farmers gain market access.
Malawi: Ingrid Marie Mikelsen, the Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, says she is impressed with the products produced by the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) at its processing facility in Lilongwe, Kanengo.
Mikelsen said this on Friday, following a tour of the maize flour and grits processing, groundnut cleaning and grading, groundnut roasting, blanching, and packaging, rice processing and packaging, and food safety laboratory, that the products produced by NASFAM are of the highest quality.
"I have seen a professional factory that is producing various products from maize, groundnuts, and beans, among other things, and I have noticed that the products being produced are of high quality," Mikelsen said.
As a result, she stated that the Norwegian government would continue to support NASFAM in order to keep its work going.
"Over the last 20 years, we have provided approximately US28 million dollars (approximately MK28 billion) to NASFAM in various programmes to improve market access for smallholder farmers," she said.
"Similarly, the Norwegian government will continue to support NASFAM in order for it to continue operations, and we are so proud from the Norwegian side to partner with NASFAM in developing better products in a more climate-smart way.”
Dr Betty Chinyamunyamu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NASFAM, stated in her remarks that NASFAM strives to increase productivity to meet the demands of both the domestic and international markets.
She said: "Most of our products are already of export quality; we are currently exporting rice to Scotland and legumes to other countries around the world."
"However, we are primarily focused on the domestic market, but we are working to expand our production in order to meet demand on both the domestic and international markets.”
She also stated that the company intends to launch a new line of products, which will include peanuts and maize flour, and that the new products will be available in the market within three months.
NASFM was founded in 1976 and formally registered in 1998 as an organisation to help smallholder farmers gain market access.
Since its inception as an organisation, NASFAM has been involved in a variety of service systems, programmes, and enterprises.
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